Once you are in Focus Mode, Aftertone handles the sequencing for you. You do not need to decide what comes next after each task — the app does that based on your schedule and priorities.

Completing a task

When you finish a task, press Enter or click the Complete button. The task is marked as done and removed from your schedule. Aftertone immediately shows you the next task. If the next task is in a different time block, you will see a short transition screen showing what is coming and when.

Skipping a task

If you are not able to work on the current task right now, click Unfinished. Aftertone moves the task to later in your day or back to the inbox depending on whether there is space in your schedule, then shows you the next task. Use skip sparingly — if you are skipping the same task repeatedly, it needs to be rescheduled or broken down into something smaller.

How Aftertone picks what is next

After you complete or skip a task, Aftertone looks at your remaining time blocks and selects the task scheduled next. If you are between blocks, it shows you the next scheduled task and how long until it starts. You can choose to start it early or take a break.

Starting the next task early

If you finish ahead of schedule and want to start the next task early, click Start Now. Aftertone adjusts the calendar so the next block begins now.

When you run out of scheduled tasks

If you complete all your scheduled tasks before the day is done, Aftertone surfaces tasks from your inbox and Today view — the highest priority unscheduled work — and asks if you want to add any to the rest of your day.

When a task goes overdue

If a task runs past its block, an overdue indicator appears on the Focus Screen. See Managing Time in Focus Mode for the full options.

👉 Try it now — The next time you complete a task in Focus Mode, do it with the keyboard only. Press Enter to complete, then pick the next task without touching the mouse.